


as I lay us down to sleep

by violetmessages



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Episode: s02e13 Exit Wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28737924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmessages/pseuds/violetmessages
Summary: Jack's family is exhausted and he makes an executive decision.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper & Jack Harkness & Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 32
Kudos: 65





	as I lay us down to sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [engagemythrusters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/engagemythrusters/gifts).



Gwen stifled a big yawn, and Jack winced at the noise. He stared guiltily at his exhausted best friend, who deserved to go to sleep. A good, long sleep, for at least twelve hours or until she was well and rested. He wished he could send her home, both her and Ianto, and take on the burden of their tasks alone so that they could take a breath, rest, and do the healing they needed. Unfortunately, while he could do three people’s jobs with some difficulty, he could not do five. 

And wasn’t that their whole problem? The loss of Owen and Tosh hung over them like a fog of heavy pallid dust, clinging to their skin and raking into their hearts until they were scrubbed raw with lament and remorse. And who better than him to remorse? 

It was his fault after all, that two of their teammates, their friends, their _family_ , were tucked away in the morgue beneath his feet instead of laughing by his side. It was his fault that they’d died. If he had only caught up to Tosh before, if he had only seen what Aaron Copley was capable of. 

If he had only not let go of Gray’s hand that day. 

He had caused Owen and Tosh’s death, and he was about to send the rest of his family into an early grave by overworking them. Had Ianto even gone home in the last week? Had Gwen? He vaguely remembered a few hours during which Gwen had slept on the couch yesterday, but he didn’t think Ianto had even left the Hub after they’d watched Tosh’s final message to them. Or slept. 

Walking over to Tosh’s desk, he sank into the chair she’d never let any of them sit in and quickly checked the Rift monitors. After - _everything,_ the Rift had been overactive, and along with their cleaning efforts and dealing with the rest of the Weevils running amok in the city, they’d had to run after Rift debris - something that was difficult with five people but proving to be near impossible with three. 

He caught Ianto, resilient, strong Ianto, who was trying his best to ignore his emotions to deal with everyone else’s issues, yawn loudly, then blush crimson in embarrassment. He saw Ianto smile tiredly at Gwen’s little laugh, then give her hand a squeeze before getting up off his seat. 

He watched as Ianto stumbled, half-asleep, to the coffee machine and started to brew another batch of coffee, which seemed to be the only thing keeping them going at the moment. Coffee, which all but ran through their veins, kept them functioning. He watched Ianto pour in the coffee powder with shaking hands and tamp it down, seemingly using all his strength to do so before inserting it into the machine. Ianto yawned again, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes, rubbing furiously in an effort to stay awake. And as he placed a hand on the table to steady himself before fumbling to turn on the machine, Jack decided he’d had enough.

“Ianto,” he ordered. “Leave it alone and come here.”

“Can it wait?” asked Ianto, gazing blearily at his direction. “I’ll just make some coffee for us, and we’ll be more awake.”

“No, it can’t,” he said. “Come over to the couch. You too, Gwen.”

Then he strode across the room to the couch and sunk down, waiting for his two sleepy employees to walk over. As they stood before him, dazed, confused, and grieving, pain evident in every fiber of their being, his heart seemed to sink even lower than it already was. He had caused this. He had done this to them. 

“Come here,” he said, and patted the cushions next to him on either side. The two of them sat next to him, still confused. Jack put an arm around either one and leaned back, taking both of them with him to their surprise. The three of them lay against the couch, Ianto and Gwen’s heads tucked on top of his shoulders. 

“What are we doing, Jack?” asked Gwen, exhaustion dripping from her voice. “Did you just call us here to-”

“-I called you here because the two of you are exhausted and you need to sleep. So go to sleep.” 

“Jack,” Ianto said, seemingly annoyed and patient at the same time, something that brought an odd sort of emotion in Jack, a kind of happiness that made him deeply sad. “We have work to do. I need to go call UNIT and-”

“That can wait until tomorrow,” Jack cut him off. “The two of you need to go to sleep. Have you even left the Hub in the last couple days?”

“We need to-” Gwen started to say, and he clamped his hand over her mouth, muffling the rest of her sentence. 

“No more talking,” he said, laughing at how Gwen tried to pull his hand off her mouth. 

Then she licked it, and he wrenched it away rapidly. 

“Did you just lick my hand?” he exclaimed, and she burst into giggles at the shocked expression on his face. “Gwen!”

Then Ianto started to snicker, and Jack shot a mostly fake indignant look at him, rolling his eyes when Ianto started to laugh even more. He huffed, mostly for show. It was refreshing to hear them laugh, and he patted both their heads. 

“That’s what we did to boys that put their hands over our mouths in primary school,” Gwen said between laughs. “So really, that means you haven’t matured since then.”

‘Hey,” Jack complained. “I’m older than both of you!”

“Clearly, your mind isn’t.” Ianto snickered. Jack batted his chin lightly against Ianto’s, and he laughed again. 

“ _Clearly,_ the lack of sleep has gotten to you,” Jack said, in mock anger. “Go to bed. The Rift monitor says it’ll be a quiet night, and anything else can be done after you get a good nap in.”

Gwen started laughing again, hard and rough, until she was wheezing, laughing so hard she was gasping. She pressed her head into his shoulder and kept shaking. He felt his shirt grow damp, and he stroked the top of her hair.

Ianto pressed his face against the side of his neck, and they stayed in that position for a long time, Gwen shaking to his left, Ianto growing more and more unresponsive by the minute. He held the two of them, the last remaining members of his ever-decreasing family, and stroked Gwen’s hair and clutched at Ianto. 

_And I’ll be here_ , he thought to himself. _I’ll protect you with every last bit of life I have. I swear, I won’t let anything else happen to you, I promise._

It was a promise that, deep down, he knew he couldn’t keep. He made it anyway. 

Gwen yawned again, wrapping her arm over his neck and turning her head down into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and batted Ianto’s head again with his chin. 

“Sleep,” he said, and Ianto sighed, then relented, resting his head opposite Gwen’s and tucking his arm across Jack’s hip. Jack gave the obligatory kiss to the top of Ianto’s head as well and somehow managed to pull them even closer. 

“Jack, what if the Rift alarm-”

“-I’ll take care of it,” Jack whispered reassuringly, cutting Ianto off. He’d take care of anything. If he was a less selfish man, he’d Retcon the both of them so that they’d live long, satisfying lives. But he wasn’t. He was a selfish old man who wanted to keep them both as close as possible for as long as he could. He was like the Doctor, surrounding himself with young people to give him love and affection and sapping their life and any normality they’d have in the process. He was a parasite, gorging himself on their normality, on their loyalty, and their love, living forever and condemning them to a fate he would never get to experience. He’d seen what happened to people who travelled with the Doctor. Sure, he’d show them “the universe.” _But at what cost?_

How long would he have until he’d have to bury them both? 

Jack shoved the thought away and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to sleep - he needed to be awake for the Rift alarms. But he couldn’t help it. The two warm bodies cuddling into him and the silent hum of white noise in the Hub were too relaxing, and before long, he found himself falling deep down into the blackness of sleep. 

* * *

Rhys Williams was not an inpatient man. He couldn’t be - dating, then marrying Gwen had made it clear that only one of them was allowed to be impatient, and he was not the one. So naturally, he sat down at dinner alone and unbothered at first, something he’d mostly gotten used to anyway. Gwen worked for Torchwood after all.

If she didn’t show up at nine, both of them had agreed that there was no point in Rhys waiting. They ran on schedules that didn’t always intersect, so there was really no point in trying to have rigid plans. Besides, she hadn’t come home in days. He didn’t mind, without Gwen, he just walked over to the couch and watched rugby while he ate. He couldn’t do that with Gwen - she’d just get too agitated watching and not be able to finish dinner. 

After he finished his dinner and the game, he checked his phone again, seeing if she’d given him any plan about when she was coming home. He only saw a couple texts from Daf, so he quickly responded to them and started getting ready for bed. 

Rhys worried about his Gwen. She was the strongest woman he knew, but she’d been through a terrible loss. Both her and Ianto and even Jack, who looked ready to fall over the last time he saw him a couple days ago. He didn’t really know Owen or Toshiko far too well. They’d come over a couple times for dinner, and they seemed like the good sort of people. 

So when Gwen told him about their deaths and having to clean up the city, he didn’t make any kind of fuss. He just told her to take all the time she needed and that he’d come over with lunch whenever she needed it. 

All he could do was support her. 

Collapsing into bed, Rhys fell asleep in minutes, the warm air of their flat set at the perfect temperature for both of them. In the morning, he woke up to a side of their bed, still cold, and realized that Gwen hadn’t come home. Again. 

This was a worrying development, and although expected, it didn’t stop Rhys from fretting. She hadn’t texted him either, which she was usually good about doing. He supposed that grief did funny things to people. 

He’d get her breakfast, he planned. For all three of them. They’d probably been working for days; they deserved something nice to eat. He always liked it when Gwen brought him food after a hard day. 

Keyword being bought. He loved that mad woman to bits but he wouldn’t touch a _thing_ she made in the kitchen. 

On his way to work, he went to Gwen’s favorite bakery and bought a box of pastries, making sure to put in at least one lemon and poppyseed muffin in there - Gwen’s favorite. He snuck in a few protein bars inside the box as well. They needed all the extra food they could get. 

When he got to the Hub, he fiddled around with the key Jack had slipped into his hand one night, just in case he needed it. It was a sign of how much Jack trusted him now, how far their relationship had progressed from almost being Retconned to being given full access to the _sewer_ that they called a base. 

Seriously, after seeing where they worked, he was worried that Gwen would bloody well get tetanus. 

Entering, he was shocked at how quiet everything was. Usually there was some kind of noise, the coffeemaker running, loud typing, and the sound of Jack’s annoyingly loud voice echoing through the Hub. However, he could hear nothing. 

Then a horrifying thought struck him. What if they had all died? Just like Tosh and Owen. 

He ran through the main part and then stopped still in his tracks when he saw the old couch, heart almost beating out of his chest. There, sitting in the middle, to his immense relief, were Jack, Ianto and Gwen fast asleep. 

Jack was in the middle, with Gwen and Ianto snoring on either side, heads rested on Jack’s chest. All three of them finally looked peaceful, and as much as Rhys thought it would be funny to watch them wake up, he wasn’t going to wake them. How long had it been since they’d slept?

He looked around the Hub and spotted a blanket folded neatly on a desk. Unwrapping it, he gently covered all three of them and smiled at the sight again. Then he took a picture - it was his duty to forever tease all three of them about this. 

Rhys placed the box on Gwen’s desk and used Gwen’s ridiculous fluffy pen to write her a note. He placed it on the box, gave the three of them one final smile, and exited the Hub for work. 

_Good Morning, Lovely! I just came by to drop off some breakfast, and I didn’t want to wake you (or Captain Flash or Ianto). I know it’s a horrible time right now, but I can’t have you skipping meals. You need to be well-fed if you’re going to chase after little green men all day. Text me if you’re planning on coming home today - I know you probably won’t, but just in case, I’ll make something nice for us. I love you <3 -Rhys _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


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